How to Boil Bell Peppers

By Grace Covelli

Bell peppers are harvested in colors such as green, red and yellow. They are an excellent source of vitamins A and C. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1/2 cup of chopped green bell peppers contain 60 percent of your daily value of vitamin C, yellow bell peppers contain 230 percent, and red bell peppers contain 240 percent. Green bell peppers can be stuffed with meat and rice. To make stuffed green bell peppers, boil the peppers before stuffing them. Choose peppers that are plump and not mushy or pale in color.

Things You'll Need

Hand soap

Paper towels

Bell peppers

Cutting board

Small, sharp knife

Large pot

Salt, optional

Large colander

Wash your hands well before preparing your bell peppers for boiling. After you have lathered your hands with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds, dry your hands with a clean paper towel.

Thoroughly rinse the bell peppers you are going to cook under the faucet. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests avoiding the use of any cleansing product on fruits and vegetables, so wash bell peppers with water only.

Blot the bell peppers dry with a clean paper towel.

Place a bell pepper on your cutting board and cut the stem out, using your small, sharp knife. Cut the pepper in half, across the center, starting where the stem grew. Take out the seeds and throw them away.

Place all the trimmed peppers in a large pot.

Add water to the peppers in the pot, making sure they are completely submerged under the water, but don’t add more water than that. Add salt to the water, if desired. Two teaspoons are recommended.

Put the pot on a your stove top and bring the water to a boil. Cook the bell peppers in the boiling water for five minutes.

Remove the pot from the stove and pour the water with the peppers into your colander.

Tips

Pour the water and the peppers into the colander slowly to prevent damaging the peppers.